


Zodiac of Love

by LiaoftheDawn



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Astrology, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Heartbreak, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-25
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 04:42:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4421783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiaoftheDawn/pseuds/LiaoftheDawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Midorima watches as Takao jumps from girlfriend to girlfriend, from Zodiac to Zodiac, and wonders about the strange feelings it stirs inside him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Taurus

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Зодиак любви](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10467267) by [SollyDoll](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SollyDoll/pseuds/SollyDoll)



The first girl was a Taurus.

She'd been Takao's girlfriend since junior high school, and although they were in different schools now, they still dated and texted each other frequently. They had a strong connection, as was to be expected from opposite zodiacs, and Midorima hadn't given too much thought to it back then. Takao was just that sort of guy, the sort to be flirty and popular with girls, the sort to have a girlfriend and take her out in romantic dates.

Midorima didn't hang out with Takao that much back then, but they were in the same class and sat next to each other, so he always noticed how his eyes lit up when his phone started buzzing, and the endearing smile that appeared on his lips when he talked about her to the other guys. After basketball practice he would always rush to get showered and changed to go meet her, and even when the training was especially exhausting, he'd always radiate excitement as he left the room. Midorima could tell he was quite smitten by her.

But, as was bound to happen, after a couple of weeks Takao's excitement dwindled and he seemed to be brooding or annoyed more often than not. One day, after practice, Midorima caught him arguing heatedly with a girl –his girlfriend, he inferred- and was able to catch some pieces of dialogue.

"Are you telling me this basketball thing is more important than me?!"

"You know that's not it! Both are important to me, you knew it from the beginning!"

Midorima wasn't really interested in whatever Takao made of his private life, but it was the first time he saw the Point Guard looking so distressed, and for some reason he couldn't take his eyes away from the scene.

"If you're gonna be so stubborn about it, it's better that we don't see each other anymore!"

"Whatever, not like anyone could put up with you demanding attention all the time!"

"FINE!"

The girl stormed out of the courtyard furiously and Takao punched the stone pillar he'd been leaning on. It was then that he realized that Midorima was standing there, and he glanced up with reddened eyes.

"Woah, sorry for that. I must look really lame now, I'm sorry Shin-chan had to see such a pathetic sight."

Takao forced a crooked smile on his face that still managed to look incredibly sad. Midorima felt his cheeks burning up, so he turned his gaze away, acting like he hadn't seen it. He stopped with his back to Takao and tightened his fists.

"I heard from the captain that your house is really close to mine. I wanted to discuss some things about today's practice, so I thought it would be better if we walked back together." He commented, trying to control the inexplicable tremor in his voice.

The other boy chuckled and caught up with him. "Yeah, I'd like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this around a year ago for Shin-chan's birthday. Since the chapters are very short I won't take that long to update, many every two or three days. Hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think.
> 
> I also apologize for the shitty cheesy title, I just couldn't think of anything better.


	2. Pisces

The second girl was a Pisces.

She was a third year in their school, and the president of the art club. She was one of the school's most popular girls due to her refinement and elegance. She also came from a wealthy family, so the moment she and Takao started dating, they became the school's hottest topic.

Since Takao's break-up with his junior-high sweetheart, he and Midorima had become somewhat closer, although it was more Takao clinging to him and teasing him all the time. He had also somewhat managed to convince the shorter guy to ride him to and from school with his grandfather's rickshaw every day (okay, he kind of cheated him into believing it was a fair deal by deciding their positions via janken, but Takao was horribly bad at the game), so it came as quite a surprise when Takao said he couldn't ride him around today because he had a date with Pisces. Midorima could never possibly remember her name, but her Zodiac was extremely obvious just from her personality.

Compared to the previous girl, Takao was clearly less invested in this relationship. Midorima would guess it was just working as a rebound for him. It hadn't even been two weeks since the breakup, so it was kind of understandable.

Midorima could also tell that the girl wasn't really interested in Takao either. She was a third year, after all, and was actually more focused in studying for entrance exams or going out with her friends. If he were to take a guess, he'd say she just picked Takao randomly because he was sort of popular and she wanted to keep other, more obnoxious guys at bay. He wouldn't be surprised if it just turned out they were both pretending to date one another, but Takao never commented anything on the matter, and he didn't care enough to ask.

They broke up pretty quickly too, and Takao confessed to Midorima that, although she was very pretty and well-mannered, she wasn't really his type. "I guess I'm just not suited for an  _ojou-sama_  like that", he had said, jokingly.

It was a simple, clean break up, and they both remained friends afterwards, although other than occasionally texting, they didn't really see each other much.

Midorima had never had a romantic relationship in his entire life, so he found it hard to understand how two people who didn't particularly like each other would become a couple, then break up after two weeks and go on with life as if nothing had ever happened. All of his knowledge about love came from his little sister's fascination with TV Dramas, so he'd figure all breakups would be messy, and leave everyone feeling miserable –much like Takao's previous one-. He found it puzzling, and at the same time sad, that two people could say "I like you" one day and decide to not see each other ever again the next day without any feeling of regret.

Thinking about it was making him depressed, and Takao seemed to be perfectly fine, so he decided it was better to brush those thoughts aside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter is so short I have nothing to say lol. Just that this is one of my favorite gfs.


	3. Leo

The third girl was a Leo

She was a third year from Takao's middle school, and had apparently idolized him since she saw him playing basketball. Takao told Midorima that she'd already confessed to him once before, but he had been dating Taurus back then so he turned her down. Apparently, after hearing they broke up, she decided this was her chance, and Takao just shrugged and said "Yeah, why not."

This girl bothered Midorima a lot more than the previous two. He hadn't been particularly bothered by them to begin with, but the Leo girl was obnoxiously clingy. She walked Takao to school and waited for him after club practice every day, texted him endlessly, and threw a temper tantrum whenever Takao took longer than two seconds to reply. She also insisted on showing up every day during lunch break and sneak into the school to bring a bento box for Takao, then watch intently until he ate every bit of it. For Midorima, who for unknown reasons had grown accustomed to having lunch with the raven-haired Point Guard, it was completely unnerving.

Midorima could also tell that Takao himself found her annoying from time to time, but the guy was too congenial to properly tell her off. Unlike his previous girlfriend, this one was most definitely and completely smitten by Takao, and although he initially intended to just play along for a while, the Hawk Eye was now worried about how to break it off. Although she was so demanding, Takao seemed to still find her persistence kind of cute, and refused to hurt her feelings, even if it meant putting up with her consuming all of his time.

Walking home with Takao had become another of Midorima's routines, but this girl wouldn't have any of that either. She complained that it was weird how he'd just accept Midorima's bossing, and for the eight days that their relationship lasted, Takao had to excuse himself from riding Midorima around in the rickshaw. As much as it ticked him off, though, he decided that was better than having to walk with that girl all the way to school, so he allowed it without complaining. She was a Leo, after all, and she would have nothing but Takao's full attention.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Takao, but Midorima who reached his breaking point with this woman. The NBA season was starting this weekend and they had agreed to watch the game together in Takao's place. Everything was going fine until Takao's girlfriend stormed into the room furiously, screaming how dared 'Kazu-kun' refuse going on a date with her to watch a 'stupid game' with the 'giant freak'.

Midorima didn't wait for Takao to respond, he stomped out of the room, only half-muttering the proper formalities and went back home without looking back. He wasn't really sure of why he was so annoyed, it's not like he felt offended by that girl calling him freak –she wasn't the first one, and most definitely wouldn't be the last one to do so-, he was sort of used to it by now. He didn't particularly care about the game either; as much as he enjoyed playing basketball, he wasn't a big fan of watching it on TV.

_Could it be because of Takao?_

It was true that in the past two months he'd somehow grown used to hanging out with Takao Kazunari. Although the shorter guy would mostly tease him and annoy him, he'd sort of ended spending a lot of time with him. This girl, however, had slowly been eating away all of that time: lunch time, riding the rickshaw to school, even the classes they shared because she would never stop texting him. Heck, the last two or three days she'd even started attending basketball practice and squeal Takao's name for hours, trying to draw his attention. And she now had to come and ruin the one thing they'd been planning since last month, and it made him indescribably upset.

He didn't understand it. Because he didn't have any particular attachment to Takao, he'd hardly call him his friend. More like someone who was conveniently around and had somehow managed to worm his way into Midorima's life. But it bothered him nonetheless.

"Shin-chan, wait!"

Midorima stopped in his tracks and took a sideway glance to see Takao running to catch up with him.

"I'm so sorry about that, Shin-chan. I broke up with her. She was getting on my nerves too."

The Miracle shooter huffed with indifference, still not looking at the shorter boy.

"C'mon, don't be like that! The Lakers are playing tomorrow, let's watch that instead! I'll treat you to lots of that  _shiruko_  you like so much. And I'll come pick you up in the rickshaw, you won't even have to walk all the way to my place"

_Your place is a ten minute walk from mine, you idiot._

Midorima huffed once again. "Whatever." He said and resumed his walk, ignoring Takao's massive grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to make a disclaimer, I don't want anyone from any sign getting offended. I don't particularly believe in horoscopes, and I actually made an effort to make Takao's girlfriends sort of balanced. Some of them are insufferable bitches and some others will be really nice, smart girls (just not the right one for him :P). I don't have any personal negative feelings for Leo or anything like that, so please don't be offended. And thanks for reading!


	4. Gemini

The fourth girl was a Gemini

She was a cheerleader in one of the schools they'd played against in a practice match. Takao had passingly mentioned how she was pretty cute, and Midorima was surprised when she asked him out after the game ended. It was the first time he saw a girl confess to Takao; it was incredibly awkward, and stirred alien emotions within him that he wasn't ready to understand. Takao hadn't given it any thought, he accepted to date her on the spot. To top it off, he started whistling some stupid tune and didn't stop until he dropped Midorima in front of his house, which added to his irritation.

He couldn't understand how two people who had never met before could suddenly decide they liked each other enough to become a couple. What could they possibly like about each other, when they'd never spoken before and didn't know a thing about the other? Midorima found it quite stupid to just start dating someone because of their good looks. It was already bad enough that Gemini and Scorpio were horribly non-compatible signs, but to become a couple over such fickle motives made Midorima –who had absolutely no experience or expertise in the subject whatsoever- certain that the relationship was bound for disaster.

In spite of Midorima's grim predictions, though, they seemed to get along quite well. The day after they went on their first date, Takao wouldn't stop talking about her. She was, apparently, spontaneous and interesting, smart but not too brainy, flirty in a cute way, and very appreciative of Takao's penchant for clichéd romancing. They also shared a common interest in basketball, so it wasn't gonna end like with Taurus and Leo (Midorima had altogether given up on trying to keep track of Takao's exes, so he just resorted to remembering them by their Zodiac).

When Takao was into a relationship, he wouldn't stop talking about it. Back when Takao was still dating his middle school girlfriend they hadn't been that close to each other, so maybe he hadn't noticed it as much as he did now. It was also very clear in his entire behavior just how happy he was with this Gemini girlfriend of his. And Midorima's heart would most definitely  _not_  sink to the bottom of his stomach every time he saw them together, because unlike his previous two relationships, they just looked so happy and perfect for each other.

It thus came as a surprise for everyone when, after a month of being the perfect couple, Takao suddenly arrived with the news that he was single again. When questioned about the reasons, he just shrugged and commented "We kind of agreed that it'd just sort of stopped working."

And Midorima was most definitely  _not_  relieved to hear that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't gonna upload today, but then I remembered I'm gonna' be out all day tomorrow, so here's a new chapter for you guys.


	5. Capricorn

The fifth girl was a Capricorn

She was their class president; a smart, diligent and hard-working girl with great ambitions. She was already campaigning herself to become student council president next year. Unlike the previous three girlfriends, Takao was the one to take the first step with this one. He asked her out quite casually during lunch break and she accepted after pretending to consider it for a minute.

Takao had previously confessed to Midorima that he'd been kind of interested in the class president since the school year began. He admitted he found that sort of serious and hard-working personality kind of attractive, but figured she'd be too busy with all her other stuff to pay attention to a foolish basketball otaku like him.

Needless to say, Midorima had to ride himself back home on the rickshaw, since Takao volunteered to walk his new girlfriend back home. At this point, Midorima was already used to having to do Takao's job every time he found himself a new girlfriend. The initial phase of extreme lovey-doveyness never lasted more than a couple of days, but with each passing girlfriend, Midorima found himself being more and more bothered with how easily Takao could ditch him just to be a gentleman, and it made him extremely uncomfortable to realize just how upsetting something as ridiculous as that could be.

One day, the class president called Takao in front of the gym door as he and Midorima were about to start the last club practice before the Inter-High preliminaries. Without giving the point guard any time to ask what she wanted, she grabbed him by the front of his T-shirt and kissed him boldly on the mouth, as if they were alone in the world and Midorima wasn't standing right next to them.

His chest throbbed painfully as he saw Takao holding her by the waist and kissing her back, and he stormed inside of the gym, unable to catch up with the turmoil of emotions coiling in his belly.

She was also there in their game against Seirin, and Midorima couldn't deal with this anymore. He'd lost to Kuroko of all people, his team had been eliminated from the Inter-High, and he'd have to pull himself back home because Takao would be too busy crying into his girlfriend's arms. His cheeks started to feel wet, but he convinced himself it was just the rain.

"What's with that face Shin-chan? It's not like you to cry over something like this."

"I'm not crying, you fool. It's just the rain."

"OK, that's fine. It's just the rain on me too." He chuckled mirthlessly. "We'll get them back next time."

As Takao started walking towards the rickshaw, Midorima unspokenly asked that question he couldn't get out of his mind.

_What about her?_

"Oh, didn't I tell you? She broke up with me yesterday. She said she wasn't focusing enough in her studies and she wouldn't be able to become student council president if her grades fell. It's a shame, I really liked her and we had a good time. But I guess I kind of admire that she's so serious about her dreams."

Midorima noticed a hint of sadness in Takao's voice, but he didn't say anything. He didn't want to admit that it hurt to know that Takao had not  _chosen_  to come with him, but that he'd come because he had no other choice.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was one of my favorite girlfriends to write. One of my guidelines for this story is that I actually wanted to portray realistic girls and realistic relationships. Something that's always bothered me about BL as a genre is the tendency of making every girl an insufferable, stupid bitch who always talks in a horribly high-pitched voice and is ridiculously clingy and annoying. I'm kind of sick of that (even though I did write that sort of girl for Leo). I wanted real girls, human girls, strong girls. Even if they're more of a plot contrivance to move the story forward, I didn't want them to be cardboard clichéd love rivals.
> 
> ~~worth noting that takao likes "serious and hard-working" personalities~~


	6. Scorpio

The sixth girl was a Scorpio, the same as Takao.

She was a college student in Takao's neighbourhood, and they'd met shortly before the start of the summer break. She was very attractive, even Midorima had to admit she was probably Takao's most attractive girlfriend up to date. She was in a different school, and she wasn't particularly clingy, so Takao didn't have to walk her home like he did with all his previous girls, and his time with Midorima wasn't particularly disrupted either, which the miracle shooter found refreshing. After all, she was a college student, so she had her own life sorted out.

In spite of that, they all still lived in the same neighbourhood, so although his time with Takao was not interrupted by his relationship, he often saw them during the weekend whilst in the middle of a date, flirting shamelessly and sometimes kissing passionately out in the open. It was to be expected, being both Scorpions and naturally driven by intense passion. Midorima always found himself fleeing every time that happened, the pain in his chest too much to bear.

On the last day before the summer break, Takao came to pick him up with a shit-eating grin plastered all over his face. Midorima wasn't particularly interested because he figured it would have something to do with his girlfriend. By this point, he'd already figured out that watching Takao smile so wholeheartedly while he told stories of his romantic escapades made him unbearably miserable, although he couldn't quite bring himself to admit why yet. He'd recently opted to tune out every time Takao started saying something about his girlfriend to keep the inexplicable pain away.

"Shin-chan, are you listening?"

He looked up and scrunched his eyebrows, to make it clear that he wasn't.

"That's rude, Shin-chan, you should pay attention when people talk to you. And here I was just saying how I finally became a real man and everything…"

Midorima's heart stopped. It had just never crossed his mind. Just like it never occurred to him that Takao would kiss his girlfriends or say romantic things to them until he saw it with his own eyes.  _Of course_ , he thought. Takao was a Scorpio after all, the most sexual sign of the zodiac, and he was also a healthy, normal teenager. It was just bound to happen, wasn't it? Why did it hurt so much? Takao and his girlfriends, and how he kissed them, and how he smiled at them, all of it just came crashing down on Midorima and it was so painful he couldn't breathe.

He hopped off the rickshaw and dashed away before he could give Takao the opportunity to chase after him. He didn't want to see Takao, so he ran back home and locked himself in his bedroom, feigning illness to skip school for the first time in his life. Takao was also sensible enough to not come demanding explanations (or maybe he didn't care, but Midorima didn't want to believe that).

The next day, Midorima left his home one hour earlier than usual , hoping to be long gone by the time Takao came to pick him up (he wanted to believe Takao would come, he just didn't want to face him yet.) He made sure to put his lucky item (a portable radio) in his schoolbag and stepped out the door… only to find Takao already waiting for him.

"I figured you'd do something like this. Who the hell do you think I am, Shin-chan? I've been with you all this time." He sounded annoyed, but Midorima didn't want to meet his eyes. "Uhm… I don't really understand what's happening, but I'll just assume I fucked something up so I wanted to apologize… for whatever it is. Shin-chan's my precious friend, I don't like it when you just disappear on me like that. Our friendship is important to me, you know? If…"

Midorima tuned out afterwards, completely defeated. It wasn't Takao's fault; Takao hadn't done anything wrong. He was free to have as many girlfriends as he wanted, and Midorima was in no position to be angry at him for that. It wasn't Takao's fault either, that Midorima was feeling so jealous, so miserable, and yet he'd come all the way here to apologize for something he hadn't done because he valued their friendship. It was too much for him.

_How was he supposed to not fall in love with a guy like that?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, my poor precious Shin-chan. I love writing him because I always feel like he's so clueless at first and then, upon realizing his true feelings, embraces them completely. He's such a beautiful tsundere, someone save him.
> 
> Something I really like about Takao is that he's a 100% high-spec-kareshi, but he's also a high-spec-friend, he treasures Shin-chan's friendship and understands how hard it is for Shin-chan to get close to people, so he kind of prioritizes that friendship over pmuch everything else.


	7. Aries

The seventh girl was an Aries

She was 19 years old and had recently started working in a local book store that the both of them used to visit. She caught Takao's eye immediately, and Midorima could tell by the way he kept stealing glances at her that he was growing increasingly interested. Strangely enough, he didn't say a word about it on their way back home, which Midorima deeply appreciated.

It was surprising just how easily he'd come to terms with his own feelings once he finally realized that he was in love with Takao. He wasn't even shocked when the realization hit him, it came more as a kind of relief. At last, all those emotions seemed to finally start making sense. The reason he was always so sad, the reason he hurt so much every time Takao came to him beaming to tell him he'd gotten a new girlfriend, or every time he would smile that handsome smile of his and recall the things he did with her, whenever he saw Takao kissing one of those girls, or whenever he excused himself from spending time with Midorima because he had a date. He almost felt foolish for not realizing it before. Not that it would've helped though, since the fact that he was hurting didn't change after accepting his true feelings.

Unlike his previous relationships, Takao took his time wooing this one. He would visit the book store often, but not so much as to appear creepy or scare her. After a few days he asked her name and they exchanged email addresses. Takao never told Midorima what it was about this girl that made him put so much effort into trying to captivate her, but when they did finally start dating, Midorima could tell this relationship was on a completely different level to all the previous ones.

He'd seen Takao having fun with his girlfriends, commenting how attractive some girl was or how much he enjoyed dating this or that girl. Midorima couldn't quite describe it, but the way Takao acted around the Aries girlfriend was a completely different one. If he were to take a guess, he'd say this was the one that Takao had loved the most; if not the only one he'd truly loved.

He didn't see her often so he wasn't sure of how she felt about the relationship or Takao. A part of him wanted Takao to be happy, for him to succeed in this relationship that was obviously making him smile like that. 'It may sound stupid, but I do believe in true love and really hope I can find it someday', he'd said after one of his many breakups. But the other part of him hurt so badly thinking that Takao would eventually choose one girl; maybe not this one or the next one, but one of them, one day, and he wouldn't be part of Midorima's life anymore.

It's not like he thought he'd ever had a chance. Takao was clearly heterosexual, and while their relationship had improved leagues since they first met, he knew he was too weird, too eccentric and overall too high-maintenance a person to attract Takao's interest in that way. But that was okay. Just staying friends and being able to play basketball with Takao was enough for Midorima, and it was definitely better than nothing.

One day he went downtown to find his lucky item for the day –a very rare special edition Dragon Ball trading card- and saw Takao's girlfriend with another guy. She was clinging to his arm, their bodies extremely close as they walked, and batting her eyelashes at him flirtatiously. He lost sight of them before he could think of how to react.

It couldn't be, right? A person who was so loved by Takao could not possibly do something like that. It must've been a misunderstanding, he was thinking too much about it. They were probably relatives or close friends. She should know how much Takao loved her, and there was no way she would cheat on him knowing that. Because being loved by Takao was such a wonderful, fortunate thing, no one would ever fail to appreciate it.

He tried to clear his mind of what he'd seen as he headed home. As he walked by the park near his home, though, he noticed a slumped silhouette sitting on one of the swings. An unmistakable tuft of raven hair made it clear it was Takao. Midorima approached him cautiously.

The shorter boy had his head hung low, his bangs hiding his eyes from view. His shoulders were shaking, and Midorima could hear his uneven breathing. And he just sort of  _knew_.

"Takao." He spoke the name softly, hoping not to startle him further.

The point guard looked up, and Midorima had to bite his lip. Takao's eyes were red and glazed, tear streaks stained his cheeks. He said no word, but wrapped his arms around Midorima's waist and buried his face in his stomach, sobbing uncontrollably. The bottom of his shirt became soaked in an instant, but Midorima didn't care. He didn't say or ask anything either, he just placed his shooting hand on the top of Takao's head, tangling his fingers in his soft raven hair, hoping to at least give him some peace of mind.

A turbulence of feelings rushed through his mind, from anger at that woman who'd hurt Takao to frustration at his own powerlessness to help cheer up the boy he loved, to sadness because he, who understood just how precious Takao's love could be, was the one who would never receive it, and he had to bite back some tears.

_Won't you look at me instead? I'm right here. I've always and will always be right here. I would never hurt you like that. I would treasure you properly. Please, just once, please just look at me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see this chapter as the turning point of the story, when both of them hit rock bottom, Takao because he's had his heart broken so badly and Midorima because, now that he's accepted his feelings, can't feel but sadness upon seeing them unrequited.
> 
> Also, I know I'm treading a dangerous line with Takao dating older girls, I just wanted some variety of girls from different age groups and backgrounds. But anyway, just in case you were wondering when I was going to make Takao cry (srsly what's up with me and making Takao cry), here it is, mandatory Takao crying.
> 
> Thanks for your comments, I hope you keep enjoying this :D


	8. Aquarius

The eighth girl was an Aquarius

She was a fellow first year student at Shuutoku, but from a different class. The first day after summer break, Takao found a letter in his shoe box in which she confessed all her feelings. After reading it, he shrugged, almost annoyed. "Whatever" he'd said, and went on to look for her to tell her he would date her.

Getting over his last breakup had been hard. It had been over a month, and although the club training camp to prepare for the Winter Cup had helped clear his mind a little, Midorima could tell he was still hurting. It was very evident that, although he was dating Aquarius, he wasn't really into it. In all his previous relationships –even the ones he wasn't strongly committed to, like Pisces or Leo- Takao had always given his best to be a good boyfriend. Even if he didn't particularly like the girl he was dating, he made sure to make her feel appreciated, and would always shower her with cheesy romantic gestures. He'd always been the kind to enjoy making other people smile, after all.

With this girl, though, it was completely different. He hardly made any effort to act as a proper boyfriend, if at all. He didn't walk her home or spend any more time than strictly necessary with her, choosing to focus entirely on basketball instead. Midorima almost felt sorry for her. He knew she was genuinely interested in Takao, and unlike other girls like Gemini or Scorpio, she was truly trying to have a serious relationship with him. Takao was just too disillusioned with love to pretend he gave a fuck about it.

The poor girl was trying really hard, which made the whole thing even sadder to watch. Midorima thought he should say something to Takao, like how it was unfair to play with that girl's feelings. After all, he loved Takao too, and he knew he'd rather be rejected than have Takao date him out of spite. But in the end, he couldn't muster the courage to say anything. He was in no position to comment about Takao's love life, and more than anything, he was afraid he'd make Takao hate him.

As was to be expected, the relationship was extremely short. No matter how hard the girl tried, she couldn't even bring Takao to pretend he was remotely interested in her. After just one week, Takao found another letter in his shoebox. He didn't even blink while reading it, and he threw it in the trash can right away.

Midorima clenched his fists. He wasn't sure what made him more angry, if the fact that the other girl had hurt Takao this deeply, or watching him play with other people's genuine feelings and  discard them without a second of regret. He didn't want to see this side of Takao. He didn't want to believe that the boy he loved could so easily stomp over other people's feelings without any remorse. Because if he could do that to a random girl that had loved him so sincerely, wouldn't he do the same if he ever found out about Midorima's feelings?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An even sadder chapter. Even though I'm the one writing this, I just want them to get together already haha. But I think this chapter is important for Midorima. This is something else I'd been wanting to portray for a while. Midorima, who one-sidedly loves Takao, is in a constant dilemma. On one hand he is full of jealousy when Takao is with someone else, he's constantly afraid that he'll lose him to one of those girls. But on the other hand, he can't stand watching him make light of this girl's feelings because he sees himself on her. I don't know if that makes any sense to you, I just wanted to note it.
> 
> Thanks for all your comments, and thanks a lot for everyone who's reading :D


	9. Virgo

The ninth girl was a Virgo

She was Pisces' older sister. When the third year girl heard about Takao's romantic stump, she'd called him and introduced the two of them. She told Midorima she'd thought they'd make a good match, and even if it didn't work out, it may help Takao cheer up a little. To Midorima's surprise, it kind of worked.

Just like when he'd dated Pisces, Takao didn't seem extremely invested in this relationship, and neither was his partner, but it didn't really matter. For some reason they seemed to get along pretty well, and he seemed to be finally going back to his previous self, which made Midorima feel very relieved.

It's not like Takao had been brooding and openly miserable since he broke up with Aries. Takao wasn't the sort of person to crave people's pity or talk about his problems. Most people didn't even notice something was wrong with him. But Midorima knew. He'd been watching over Takao all this time after all, and he was able to tell when Takao forced a smile on his face to stop people from worrying. He didn't make any comments about it either, because he knew Takao didn't want to talk about it, and he hoped time would be enough to heal his friend's wounds. Thus, he was very pleased to see Takao smile that genuine beautiful smile again, even if it was not meant for him.

He'd decided to give up on his feelings for Takao. It had been hopeless from the beginning, but after seeing what happened with the Aquarius girl, he thought it better to not think about it and hope that, just like Takao's wounds were slowly healing, his own unrequited love would eventually fade away. So long as he could have Takao's friendship and trust, he'd be okay.

One morning, Takao came to pick him up in particularly high spirits. He figured something good had happened with his girlfriend, but he didn't want to know. Before he could tune out of Takao's ramblings though, he heard the shorter man chirp.

"Hey, Shin-chan, I'm finally single again, let's hit the arcade after class!"

Midorima perked his ears in confusion. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Oh, you didn't know? It was supposed to be just temporary from the beginning. She landed a job in America, her plane took off last night."

"Then why even bother?"

Takao chuckled. "It's fun to fool around every once in a while, right? I don't think I'm up for anything serious right now anyway." He replied nonchalantly.

Midorima figured if both parts were okay with it, it was fine, but he still couldn't understand the purpose of the kind of informal relationships that Takao and a handful of his exes seemed to enjoy. It just convinced him further that his feelings for Takao were pointless, since the Point Guard was not interested in a long-term relationship while he couldn't stand the idea of just dating a few weeks and splitting up 'just for fun'.

"Besides, who needs a girlfriend when I have Shin-chan all for myself?" He grinned.

He knew Takao was joking, but he couldn't help the blush that crept up his face, or the butterflies that started fluttering in his stomach.

Someone should tell that airheaded fool that Midorima would never be able to stop loving him if he kept saying things like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, after hitting the bottom of the well and then digging down a little further, our two unsuspecting lovebirds are sort of getting back on the right track, yay. Hope you liked this short chapter even if it's sort of transitional. And thanks a lot for reading and for all the lovely comments!


	10. Sagittarius

The tenth girl was a Sagittarius

She was the captain of the female basketball team in Shuutoku, and with both teams headed for the Winter Cup, none of them had much time to meet outside of practice. Midorima was too concerned with other things so the only reason he knew they were dating was because Captain Ootsubo teased Takao about it.

Midorima was surprised when his now completely assimilated routine with Takao was not disrupted at all by the appearance of this new girlfriend. Takao still ate lunch with him every day, rode him to and from school in the rickshaw, invited him over to study or watch basketball games on the weekends and went out with him to get his lucky item of the day. Apart from chatting during their practice breaks and texting from time to time, Takao and his girlfriend didn't seem to interact much. If he hadn't heard it from Ootsubo and other members of the team, he would've never known they were really dating. He didn't question Takao on the matter and just assumed it was another one of those informal, 'just for fun' flings, and didn't give it much more thought.

One day he was sitting in the library studying for the final tests. He knew he wouldn't have much time once the Winter Cup started, so he wanted to begin a little ahead of schedule to avoid falling behind on his courses. He heard hushed female voices coming from behind the bookshelf, but paid them no mind until he heard Takao's name being mentioned.

"Didn't you say you'd finally made Takao-kun your boyfriend? I haven't seen you guys together at all."

"Well, yeah. Every time I tell him we should go out on a date he says he can't because he has plans with 'Shin-chan', it's like he's not even trying at all."

"Eh? Who?"

"Don't you know? Midorima, that giant that always hangs around with Takao-kun. He's a real pain in the ass, just because he's kind of good at the game he thinks he can get away with whatever, but he's such a weirdo."

"Oh, you're right, they're always together, aren't they? I've heard he's quite a tyrant."

"Yeah, he's got Takao-kun doing everything he wants. Just because Takao-kun's the only one who can stand being near him."

"I bet he threatened to kick Takao-kun out of the team if he didn't pretend to be his friend. Pathetic"

Midorima sighed. He didn't care what those girls thought about him, but he didn't like it when people said he bullied Takao into being his fake friend. If there was something he was certain of, it was that Takao's friendship was unquestionably sincere, and he hated it when people didn't believe that.

"What the hell are you doing running your mouth about Shin-chan like you know a thing?!"

It took him completely unguarded, hearing Takao come out in his defense like that. For one, he didn't expect him to be in the library of all places, and even if he was, he was not the kind to be angered easily, so Midorima wouldn't have expected him to lose his temper over people badmouthing their relationship.

"Well, it's true, isn't it? Even some guys from the team have said that he's a completely insufferable dictator, and the only reason everyone puts up with him is because he's kind of good at throwing baskets. C'mon, you don't have to pretend. He'll never know, you can tell the truth."

He heard the sound of a chair being kicked, and he noticed a few heads turning in the general direction of the noise.

"The truth is he's not 'kind' of good. Shin-chan is  _amazing_ , more than you'll ever be. His basketball is the most beautiful I've seen."

His heart skipped a beat.

"And more importantly, he's the best friend I've ever had."

And another.

"It's him that has to put up with me being stupid and annoying all the time, not the other way around."

_No, it's not._

"I won't stand for a stupid bitch like you talking shit about Shin-chan when you don't know a fucking thing about anything."

Maybe his heart had stopped altogether.

"Huh? Are you saying you prefer to spend time with that tyrannical freak than with your girlfriend?"

"No. I'm saying I will always choose the best basketball player I've met and my most precious friend over some pathetic idiot that just babbles stupid trash without a clue about anything. In fact, I will always choose Shin-chan over anyone else, so fuck off!"

The girl screeched furiously and stormed out of the library with her friends. Takao huffed in annoyance.

Midorima left the library as fast as he could too. He couldn't face Takao now. Not when he'd said all those things that made Midorima's heart stop one moment and beat at a mile per hour the next. It was surreal, the effect Takao could have on him. Just when he thought he couldn't love him any further, he went and said things like how he thought Midorima's basketball was beautiful or how he considered him his most precious friend. He was most definitely done for.

He never addressed the subject, and Takao had apparently not noticed that Midorima had overheard the entire conversation, but that was for the best. He was having a hard time trying not to blush every time he met the Point Guard already.

Still, whenever he recalled that discussion, he couldn't help the small smile that would involuntarily appear on his lips. So what if Takao would never love him back? Just knowing that the boy he loved thought that way about him was enough to make him happy. He couldn't possibly ask for anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little happines for our beautiful pining tsundere, yes? Hope you like it, sorry for Sagittarius people, please don't be offended. There are bitches and assholes all around the Zodiac, nothing personal hehe.


	11. Libra

The eleventh girl was a Libra

She was Takao's childhood friend, and for some reason had suddenly transferred into a nearby school.

After Takao's breakup with Sagittarius, a lot of nasty rumors about him had started running through school. That he was a manwhore, a pervert, that he enjoyed sleeping around and had multiple girlfriends at a time, that he was a sadist who played with girls' pure feelings and crushed them with no remorse, that he manipulated girls so he could grope them and have his way with them and then discarded them like trash, and heck, some people were even saying that he'd seduced one of the teachers to get a passing grade. Midorima could figure who had started them, and it bothered him every time he heard someone whispering ridiculous stories that went as far as saying he had some nasty STD and was purposefully trying to spread it through school.

Takao himself didn't seem to mind. Even when things started getting to the point of having his shoebox flooded with trash and the words "Die!" carved on his school desk, he just shrugged it off. Midorima tried to talk him into reporting things to the teachers, but he just smirked and said they'd get bored and stop if he didn't react. Midorima was quite convinced this was not the best course of action, but he didn't feel he had the right to intervene when the whole thing had happened because Takao had stood up to defend him.

"It's okay anyway" he said unperturbed. "not like I have time to waste on girls with the Winter Cup and everything going on."

It was partially true. The Winter Cup had finally started and they were right in the middle of preliminaries. It also made Midorima sort of relieved in a disturbing way to know that girls in their school would stop pursuing Takao, although he sure as hell had never wanted it to turn out this way.

"Aren't you happy? Now I can devote myself to Shin-chan alone. We'll become the best combo and take over the Winter Cup, you'll see."

Midorima didn't know how to take those words, but they always made him fluttery and happy, so he decided to not argue any further.

It thus came as a surprise to know that Takao had found himself another girlfriend. It was actually Takao's little sister who told him about it, one day when he'd gone over to Takao's house to review their game strategies. Apparently they'd started dating a couple of days ago, yet Takao hadn't mentioned anything to him, and got upset at his sister for talking about it, as if he'd wanted to keep it a secret. Midorima didn't quite understand why, but this time it hurt a lot more than all the previous ones, and for a moment he wondered if his heart hadn't just been broken beyond repair.

_So much for devoting yourself to me._

He knew he didn't have any right to complain, but he felt betrayed nonetheless. Takao tried to explain himself frantically, but Midorima didn't want to hear anything about it, so he told Takao he was tired and went back home.

A few days later, after they secured their position in the Winter Cup, and right before the first match, Midorima looked at Takao as he warmed up for the game.

"Isn't your girlfriend coming to see you?" he asked spitefully, not really thinking before letting the words spill out of his mouth.

Takao stopped his warm up exercises and looked up at him with concern, as if he didn't know what he was talking about. A faint blush appeared on his cheeks as realization hit him. "That's what I was trying to explain the other day, Shin-chan you dummy. You know how kids always make stupid promises like 'let's get married when we're adults'? I kind of made that sort of promise with her a long time ago, and she said she wanted me to make good of my word, isn't that silly?"

Midorima didn't understand how that was supposed to be an excuse for anything. Many kids made that sort of promises, but no one really took them seriously. He scowled at Takao, who flailed his hands agitatedly.

"No, no wait, listen to the whole thing before you look at me like that. I told her I couldn't go through with it. I mean, who does that in this day and age, right? I didn't want to hurt her feelings; she's always been a good friend, so I agreed to date her for the whole week after the preliminaries and until the Winter Cup started. We went on a couple of dates and that's it." He lowered his voice and looked down at the ground, his features softening into a small smile. "Besides, I already have someone I love, anyway."

As it always happened with Takao, Midorima didn't know how to feel about the whole thing. On one hand, he was relieved to hear Takao was single again, but on the other, he still got annoyed that the guy would just go and do that kind of thing with someone who honestly loved him. If it had been him, he'd never want Takao to pretend dating him, it would be too painful. Maybe for this girl it was enough to have a one-week fantasy, but Midorima would never be able to stand something like that.

There was also that last confession. A part of him was glad that Takao could say he 'loved' someone; he had feared he'd lost that after having his heart broken by that Aries girl. The other part of him just couldn't stop hurting every time he realized Takao would never choose him.

It just seemed that, as long as he was in love with Takao, there was no way to not get his heart broken constantly. And he knew he couldn't stop loving Takao. Everything was messed up.

**To be continued**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest I had already run out of ideas for girlfriends when I reached this part, so I didn't mention anything about her at all and focused on Midorima's feelings, but later on I thought of an interesting story, and it was what primarily inspired me to write a sort of side story from Takao's POV.
> 
> Also, since I am a terrible terrible person, it'll take me a little longer to update the next chapter (also because tomorrow I'm updated The Promise) Be patient with me please and thanks a lot for all your support.


	12. Cancer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoy my writing and want to know more about it/send me some love, you can hmu @ [my tumblr](https://lia-nikiforov.tumblr.com). Comments are always the most encouraging kind of support! ~~if you're wondering why you're seeing this copy-pasted everywhere it's because I had to edit shit out due to a good samaritan report hahahaha~~  
>  Now, without further ado, enjoy the "last" chapter of this ridiculously titled story.

Being defeated again hurt a lot more than he remembered. Losing to Akashi and Rakuzan made Midorima's stomach clench in plain, and this time he didn't even bother trying to hold back the tears. Takao was crying too. They had been so close, worked so hard, become so much stronger, and it still hadn't been enough. He was angry, frustrated, disappointed and profoundly sad. After all their  _senpais_  left the changing room, he and Takao stayed behind, sitting next to each other, their heads hung low, both quietly mourning their loss.

After a few minutes of deadly silence, he felt Takao's fingers ghosting over his shooting hand.

"Should I tape your fingers, Shin-chan?" he asked softly, his voice cracking a little at the end.

Midorima just nodded and let Takao do whatever he wanted with his hand. First the cool wet cloth to wash away the dirt and sweat, then the nail clipper gently cutting off any extra millimeter, followed by the cream to keep the skin from swelling, all applied with utmost care and tenderness. It was the first time he let Takao do his hand, and he couldn't help but wonder how he could know the entire process so precisely.

"Well, these are our Ace-sama's precious fingers, right? The least a common man like me can do is learn how to protect such a treasure properly." Takao said, as if he'd been reading his mind. "I've been watching you all this time, there's no way I wouldn't know something so important." He added as he finished wrapping the tape and pressed the bandaged fingertips to his lips softly.

Midorima's brain short-circuited, unable to process what this could mean, if it meant anything at all or if he was just imagining some hidden meaning in Takao's words.

The shorter man sighed and said no more, but allowed their fingers to lace together. Midorima couldn't recall how long they sat there in silence, or how or when did he make it back to the stadium to watch the final match, but that moment had been so intimate and so precious that he didn't care about the details, he just wanted to store it in his memory forever.

* * *

A few months passed without Takao finding a new girlfriend. Midorima was puzzled. In all the time they'd known each other, the Point Guard hadn't remained single for more than two weeks, and it made him wonder if the guy was really okay. Many girls confessed to him in that period of time too (apparently forgetting that he was a perverted manwhore with STDs or whatever because he'd been so cool during Winter Cup), but he turned them all down and insisted he already had someone he liked. Upon pressed for a name, he would smile meekly and said "It doesn't matter, it's one-sided anyway."

On January 1st, as he walked to their nearby shrine for the New Year ceremony, he realized that Takao had gone all the way through the Zodiac in less than a year. It was almost stunning that he hadn't repeated any sign even once, or that all his relationships had been short enough to make the feat possible. A moment later he also realized that he hadn't had a Cancer girlfriend. Maybe the person Takao loved was a Cancer. It would make sense, given how Cancer and Scorpio were extremely compatible signs. Maybe this year-long jumping from one Zodiac to the next had just been fate's determination for Takao, and that the next one, the person Takao loved (and for some reason he was now convinced that person was a Cancer), would be the one connected to him by the red string of fate. At some point he started to firmly believe this was what was actually going to happen.

He chuckled mirthlessly.

_If it's going to be like this, couldn't you just pick me instead?_

He knew it was useless to dwell on this so much, but he couldn't help it. It was as if fate itself was mocking him and his hopeless unrequited love.

He received his first fortune telling of the year and opened it without any particular anticipation. He had an overall good luck, with apparently some trouble on school, generally good health and best luck in love.  _As if_. He smiled sadly again and folded the piece of paper neatly into his wallet before heading home.

"Ah! Shin-chan!"

Takao waved his hand at him and Midorima didn't have a choice but to greet him.

"Hey, Shin-chan, how was your luck for this year?" he asked eagerly as he waited in line to get his own.

"Good." He replied curtly.

Takao pouted at his response, but didn't say anything as he opened his own fortune and a gloomy look appeared on his features. "Shin-chan, let's trade. I got 'worst luck'" he complained as he clung to Midorima's arm.

"Why would I want your bad luck on me? In fact, you'd better stay away from my vicinity; I don't want to be infected by it." He tried to shrug the shorter guy off, although not as adamantly as he'd want to believe.

Takao groaned again. "Shin-chan, you meanie. If I can't be close to you that's already the worst luck ever." He said casually, glaring at his unfortunate piece of paper. Midorima blushed, and he was about to push the other guy away when his pouty expression changed to a surprised smile. "Oh! My love fortune is actually good! I think I'm keeping this." He released Midorima's arm and stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket.

Midorima sighed. Fate was most definitely making fun of him.

* * *

All the basketball club members gathered before spring break to clean the locker room, take their personal belongings and send the graduating third years off with a final match. When the game was over and the cleaning started, Midorima noticed Miyaji-senpai leering over his shoulder.

"Oh? What's this, Ace-sama? Why do you have a picture of Takao in your locker?"

Midorima froze. No. Shit no, this was not happening.

"You know that's the place where your girlfriend's picture goes, right? Are you two having an affair? I didn't think that guy was on  _that_  side of the fence."

_No, you don't know anything, it's not like that. He's not like that._

"Why so tense Ace-sama? Oh, don't tell me. It's not an affair but just you having a secret crush on that guy? Ain't that sad, everyone knows he's the worst kind of womanizer. Do you stare at him in the showers too? Have you secretly stolen his jersey and touched yourself with it?"

_Please stop it. He'll hear you. He'll know._

"Miyaji, that's enough!"

"Oh, no, no, no, I know. Ace-sama is the tsundere type, aren't you? You're more into romantic stuff, right? You dream of our Takao talking sweet nothings into your ear, and holding your hand while you walk down the beach. Maybe you watched him romancing all those girls and dreamed of taking their place? Maybe—"

"SO WHAT IF I DO?!"

His voice cracked and tears prickled the corners of his eyes. His whole body was shaking, and his fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles had gone white. He heard the rush of steps coming from the next room. In the deadly silence that had taken over the room, he could hear the person who'd just barged into the room –Takao, to be precise- panting heavily. He didn't dare look up and meet his eyes; he could already imagine the bewildered expression they'd have. Now it was officially over.

"Sh-Shin-chan…" Takao was still panting and couldn't seem to catch his breathe. "Shin-chan… is that true?"

Midorima shut his eyes and tried to will the tears away. Why did it have to turn out like this? He couldn't even bring himself to speak, even if he'd known what to say, his throat was tied in such a deep know he wouldn't be able to get any sound out. He couldn't even will his legs to run.

He heard Takao stomping his way through the room and then felt his small hand gripping his wrist tightly and pulling him. "We need to talk", he'd said in a strained voice and all Midorima could do was follow Takao, not giving a damn anymore.

* * *

When the two left the room, Ootsubo turned to Miyaji furiously and grabbed him by the front of the shirt.

"The hell were you trying to pull there?!" he hollered

Miyaji sighed disinterestedly. "C'mon, cap'n, we all know those two needed a push in the right direction. Can't leave thinking they're gonna stay so stupidly oblivious for another entire year. Thought it would make you glad to know they've figured it out."

* * *

Takao didn't say a word as he pulled Midorima, but he knew his partner was very angry. When they reached the back of the school, he stopped and shoved Midorima to the wall.

"Goddamnit, Shin-chan!" he held Midorima's shoulders in a tight grip and didn't look him in the eye. This was it, Midorima thought as he bit his lip, now their friendship was completely ruined forever. "Why didn't I notice it earlier?!" he buried his face in Midorima's chest, his shoulders shaking and his hands falling to bunch up at the front of his jersey, the grip loosening considerably.

"I should've noticed… I should've known better. I always thought there was something, but I couldn't believe it. I convinced myself that it was just my wishful thinking. It was obvious, right? It was just so absurd… so impossible to believe… that you could love me back. And when I taped your fingers back then and kissed you, you didn't say anything, I thought you hated it… I'm so lame… I claim to know you the best and I couldn't notice something like that... and I even let Miyaji-senpai bully you like that. I'm so sorry, Shin-chan. I should've realized it earlier."

Midorima's brain shut itself off at first, a turbulence of confusion taking over, but as Takao kept talking he understood everything. The tears he'd been holding started pouring down, and he felt Takao nuzzling his chest and pressing his lips right above the spot where his heart was beating like it was going to burst any moment.

"I'm so happy… so happy. I never thought Shin-chan would… I wish I'd realized sooner… I've wasted so much time hoping, being insecure, trying to stop loving you so much and realizing it was impossible, fearing you'd come to hate me…" he rained light kisses up his chest and neck, then his shoulders and his hands, and Midorima could feel the sheer adoration in each of them, and it made his legs weak. For how long had they been feeling the same and what was it that'd kept them apart until now?

He cupped Takao's cheeks tenderly and made him look up at him. His skin was adorned with the loveliest scarlet, his eyes glazed with tears and his lips curled in one of those beautiful smiles he'd come to adore.

"I love you" he whispered and leaned in to claim those lips, that smile, as his and his only. Takao's arms circled his neck and the shorter boy stood on his tiptoes to deepen the kiss.

When they had to part for breathe, Takao took a step back and looked up to meet his eyes, with the most dazzling smile Midorima had ever seen drawn upon his lips.

"I love you too, Shin-chan."

Their hands laced as if by instinct and their lips met naturally once again, and in that instant, everything was perfect.

* * *

Midorima's phone buzzed. He took his eyes off Takao for a moment, relishing in the warmth of their proximity, Takao's fingers laced with his and his head leaning gently on his shoulder. The screen showed a new text from Oha-Asa's mailing service.

_Today's horoscope for Cancer_

_Luck: Not the best day to play the lottery_

_School: Some extra studying would help_

_Health: Top condition today!_

_Love: Keep an eye out for your soul mate! Best luck!_

_Lucky Item: A photo of someone you like_

_Low Compatibility: Leo_

_High Compatibility: Scorpio_

Midorima smiled and glanced back at their hands entwined together. He wondered for a moment if there was an invisible red thread connecting them.

He squeezed Takao's hand in his and nuzzled the top of his head, taking in the musky scent of his thick raven hair. Perhaps fate had been on his side all along.

The twelfth was a Cancer. And he was never going to let him go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As many of you very clever people guessed, it was finally Shin-chan's turn. Well, everyone knows Scorpio and Cancer have high compatibility so it was only natural. The ending was so mushy and melodramatic I'm kind of worried it's a bit too OOC, but I love these two being cheesy and romantic, they're just so cute. And I just love intense melodrama. Also, I'm a Cancer like Shin-chan, so I have a very particularly soft spot for him and his adorable awkward tsundereness. He deserves to be properly pampered by Takao so bad. Then again, I'm always making Takao suffer, so maybe this Shin-chan suffering exercise was kind of a compensation.
> 
> My original idea was to make Shin-chan have low compatibility with Miyaji, but he turned out to be a Scorpio too (well, I guess it kind of counts as high compatibility since Miyaji turned out to play the wingman role)
> 
> There are still a couple of epilogues left to complete Takao's side of the story and propel them forward to their future as a married couple of losers. Thanks everyone for sticking around up until now, I hope you've enjoyed it and thanks a lot for all your comments.


	13. A different Scorpio

I'm not quite sure of when I started feeling interested in Midorima Shintaro. If I put my mind to it, I guess I thought he was hot back when we first met in middle-school. Let's be honest, as a man who plays a sport that involves lots of body contact with sweating muscled men wearing very light clothing, it was pretty obvious when I started thinking dudes could be attractive too. From that point, just accepting I was bi wasn't that much of a stretch. And he was just my type: long, strong legs, deliciously toned arms, beautiful eyes, a deep baritone voice and just a little bit too full of himself. I wouldn't call it love at first sight, though. Back then I became too busy being crushed by that team of monsters to give it any more thought. Besides, I had a girlfriend, and I happened to like her very much, so I forgot about that green-haired monster right away.

Upon entering Shuutoku I was surprised and kind of pleased to find myself in the same school as Shin-chan. Although I'd hoped to get revenge on those monsters from Teiko, in the end I figured it was better to have one of them in the same side of the court (and the hot one, to boot). I was kind of disappointed when Shin-chan did little more than scoff at me or ignore me. Oh well, that's life.

At that time I'd been with my girlfriend for six months, and although the relationship was reaching a stale point with us studying so far apart, I still wanted to give it a chance. But the moment she said I had to choose between basketball and her, I knew it was over. I really liked her, but I couldn't just be with someone who would have me abandon the basketball I loved so much.

When I realized Shin-chan had watched the whole thing I felt really embarrassed. Especially because it hurt breaking up with her. We'd been through a lot together –she even cheered me up after we lost to Teiko in our last year-, and although I knew there was no helping it, it made me really sad to see it end with angry screams and tears. It didn't help that Shin-chan would now see me crying; as if he didn't think I was pathetic enough.

"I heard from the captain that your house is really close to mine. I wanted to discuss some things about today's practice, so I thought it would be better if we walked back together."

My face shot upwards, unable to believe that it was holier-than-thou Midorima Shintarou trying to comfort me. And that word choice… so Ace-sama was a tsundere? Shit, that was just too cute to be true. I smiled at him and could already feel some of the pain lessening.

* * *

The art club president was a good rebound relationship, because neither of us was looking for anything serious and she was fun to hang around. Since she was a school idol, it gave me some sort of status to be her 'official' boyfriend. Also, it was kind of exciting to date an older, more experienced woman.

She wasn't demanding and had her own path figured out, so I also got to spend a lot of time with Shin-chan, who had just recently started opening himself to me, which I found incredibly fascinating. It was like having my cake and getting to eat it too: I had a cute, fun girlfriend and an incredibly funny and really hot new friend, who was also incredibly good at basketball.

I didn't even feel sad when we broke up; we just sort of agreed that it was better to just make a clean break, and neither of us was really invested. It did what a rebound relationship was supposed to: heal my heartache and leave no additional pain behind.

For a moment, I wondered if the soothing of my pain was not due to all the time I was spending with Shin-chan, but I brushed the idea away instantly.

* * *

That girl from my old junior-high school… yeah, that one was a screw up. At first I felt sorry for her because I knew she was not lying when she said she really, really liked me, and I thought it was admirable and cute that she persisted even when I'd turned her down more than three months ago.

The moment I accepted to date her, though, she became an attention-hungry, insufferable bitch, and it was more annoying than anything else to be with her. Especially because, after much persistence of my own, I'd finally gotten closer to Shin-chan, and that crazy girl was now eating at all of the time I used to spend with my new friend. Honestly, in just a few days I couldn't wait to find the right moment to break up, it was driving me a little crazy. I decided enough was enough when she started showing up for basketball practice and made me into the laughing stock of the entire team. I'd break it off on Monday, when I met her on the way to school.

But then she had to go and ruin my long anticipated appointment (would I dare to call it date?) with Shin-chan and that was the last drop. If that wasn't enough, she even called Shin-chan a 'freak'. I couldn't stand people badmouthing Shin-chan, they didn't know a damn thing about how adorable and amazing he was! And it also made me feel terribly guilty when Shin-chan stormed out of the house. What if Shin-chan didn't want to talk to me anymore? It'd been so hard to get to where we were now; I was afraid this stupid girl had ruined all my efforts so far.

I don't remember what exactly I screamed to her, but nothing short of "I don't want to see your stupid face again." (OK, maybe I could've played it nicer there), before bolting out to catch Shin-chan before it was too late.

I couldn't hold the goofy grin that took over me when Shin-chan huffed indignantly and mumbled "whatever" as a response to my proposal for the Lakers game. Such an adorable tsundere. If I didn't know myself better, I would've thought I was falling in love with that giant prodigy.

* * *

Oh, the cheerleader? She was super cute. It was funny because I saw her when we arrived for the practice match and told Shin-chan how cute she was, and he got kind of angry; I've always wondered why. And then after the match she said we should date, and of course I said yes.

She was extremely fun to be around and had a really unique personality. Our dates were never boring because she always thought of new exciting ideas for them. I don't even remember why we broke up, I think she just brought it up casually after our first month and I accepted just as casually. It's difficult to explain why I was so unaffected after breaking up with a girl I really liked, but I concluded it was because once the novelty wore off, we didn't really have much to talk about; even though she was a basketball cheerleader, she wasn't really interested in the sport  _per sé_.

Now that I think about it, she may have said something like "You never stop talking about 'Shin-chan' and I'm bored with it." Oh well, who knows.

* * *

The class president was just my type, serious and hard-working, with a little bit of tsundere. To be honest, I had my eye on her since school started, but just like Shin-chan, she didn't seem the kind to date stupid jocks like me. I was honestly surprised she agreed to date me.

I felt a little bit guilty about making Shin-chan go back home alone, but I hoped he'd forgive me. I noticed I'd been doing that a lot whenever I had a girlfriend, and I just realized how annoying it must be for him. I made a mental note of not doing it again.

Oh, there was this one time when she just randomly kissed me in front of Shin-chan and it was kind of awkward even though she was a surprisingly good kisser. For some reason, I didn't want Shin-chan to see something like that.

She broke up with me shortly after the Inter-High preliminaries started. She said she had to study harder if she was serious about becoming school council president. I was sad to break up, but I didn't complain; I found her drive and ambition very admirable. She was the kind of girl who achieved anything she set her sight on, and I really wished her the best.

Ah, she also said something along the lines of "You talk about Midorima-kun  _way_  too much." Wait, am I seeing some pattern here?

* * *

That girl from across the street was hot as hell. She also had this womanly aura around her that made her super attractive. Also, even my family was starting to complain about how I wouldn't stop talking about Shin-chan, which I took as a sign that I needed to get myself a new girlfriend ASAP.

So I decided to try my luck. I put on my best Casanova act and invited her out. I think she found me a little bit ridiculous, but cute enough to give a try. Dating her was intense. She wasn't only very attractive, but really passionate, and a really damn good kisser. She didn't have any reservations about PDA, and would randomly kiss me in the middle of a crowded street, which was kind of hot.

One day she invited me over to her apartment to watch a movie and well… things just followed their natural course, I guess. I can't say my performance was remotely stellar, and she kind of laughed at me, but what could I say? It  _was_  my first time after all. And she was very understanding and took it with humor, and somehow managed to make the whole thing sort of enjoyable for both of us (and educational for me).

When I proudly bragged of my achievement to Shin-chan (well, that's what guys usually do, right?) he got  _really_  upset. He didn't say anything, he just bolted off and wouldn't answer my calls for the whole day. He even skipped the last day of school, for crying out loud.

"Hey, Kazu-kun? I know you're not really experienced in these things, but if you're in a date with your girlfriend, you're expected to pay attention to her, not text your friends every twenty seconds."

"Oh, sorry. I'm just worried, you know? Shin-chan's just…"

Before I could finish the sentence she rolled her eyes and said she'd meet me some other day.

I couldn't really understand why, but my friendship with Shin-chan seemed to be getting in the way of all of my relationships lately. But as soon as he forgave me (because if Shin-chan was so upset it must be my fault, and even though I didn't really get it, I knew I had to apologize), I didn't really care about the other stuff. Bros' before hoes, right? (Although admittedly, none of my girlfriends had been a hoe, and most of them I had actually really liked, but you get the idea).

She broke up with me a few days later. She said it'd been fun, but in the end I was just too much of a kid.

"Oh and also…"

"I talk too much about Shin-chan?"

She laughed and pecked me in the cheek before saying goodbye.

* * *

I met the girl from the bookstore over summer break. There was nothing extraordinary about her, but maybe that's why I fell so hard. She was just an ordinary girl, with an ordinary job. She smiled when she saw me and her cheeks flushed when I told her she looked cute in her uniform. Sometimes you just get love-struck like that, with no particular reason.

There was nothing extraordinary about our dates either. It was like a shojo manga, a lot of cheesy romantic lines, a lot of blushes and fidgeting, and I even saw her surrounded by imaginary flowers from time to time. I wanted to see her all the time, hear her voice, hold her hand. Maybe I was a little pushy. For a moment I even thought she was  _the one_.

I'm not going to talk about the details, mostly because I was so heartbroken I hardly remember anything but the pain. It's like that whole day is a complete blank. I woke up and decided to surprise her after her shift ended, and the next thing I knew I was crying in Shin-chan's arms, getting his shirt soaked with tears and snot, and he didn't complain or confront me about being so head-over-heels with some random girl I barely knew; he didn't even ask what had happened. It was as though he just  _knew_. And he held me in silence, stroking my hair with his big warm hands, and I never felt so safe.

* * *

There was the girl who put love letters in my shoebox. I was such an asshole with her. I wish I could apologize, but I don't really have the guts to face her after how I treated her. It's ironic, now that I think about it, that I stooped so low as to crush that poor girl's feelings after having someone do the same to me.

I could tell even Shin-chan disapproved of what I was doing, but as usual, he didn't say a word. And that was fine. Because at that moment I didn't give a fuck about girls and love and all that stupid shit. What was the point? If it was all just gonna end with heartbreak, why even bother? All I needed was basketball and Shin-chan, my one precious friend who would never betray me; and if he started questioning me about my behavior I feared he'd abandon me too.

* * *

When the art club president (the only one of my exes I was still in touch with) introduced me to her sister I didn't know what she was up to. She said she'd 'heard some rumors' and just wanted to cheer me up. "I think you two'll hit it off and it'll be good to blow some steam. She's going to America in two weeks, so you don't have the pressure of commitment either."

She was right. Just like when I dated the younger sister, the older one was a good rebound girlfriend. I don't know if she liked to listen to me talk, because she just let me ramble endlessly about how fucked up my love life was and always had the right words to cheer me up.

"There's just one thing I don't understand" she said casually one day, after I had ranted endlessly for what felt like forever, with my head resting on her lap. "You said you're bi, but you've never dated a guy? Why not try something like that? Maybe something different would help you feel better."

I chuckled. "Well, in this day and age you can't really come up to a guy and tell them you're bi and want to date them. Most would freak out and think you're gross."

"Yeah, I guess that's true…" she hummed silently and stroked my hair. It felt different to when Shin-chan did it. It wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't half as comforting. "What about this 'Shin-chan' you keep talking about all the time? You seem to like him quite a bit."

For some reason I bolted to a sitting position and felt my face going hot. "Wh-wha-?"

I had never given the notion any serious thought. Sure I found him attractive (extremely so), and I enjoyed spending time with him more than with anyone else, and I was always thinking about him, and everyone had already complained that I talked about him too much, and he was really good at basketball and the most adorable tsundere and… Oh shit.

She chuckled. "Ah, there you go. Seems like even  _you_  hadn't noticed it yet, but it seems clear as day that you can't get that friend of yours off your mind."

I didn't have any response for that, because it was true. Oh god, what was I supposed to do now?

"Well, good luck then! I'll be cheering for you!" she said and got up from the bench we'd been sitting on. "Thank you; it's been fun so far." She added before leaving for the airport.

The next morning I felt awfully eager to meet Shin-chan, and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I'd have to come up with some excuse to explain it later, because if Shin-chan asked why I was so smiley, answering "Because seeing Shin-chan makes me the happiest", was probably not gonna fly.

* * *

Somewhere after the initial euphoria of accepting I really, really liked Shin-chan in  _that_  way, I realized how hopeless it was. What were the chances of Shin-chan being gay, or bi, for starters? I knew he was from a really traditional family where such a thing would never be allowed. And even if he were, what were the chances of him falling for  _me_  of all people?

I knew Shin-chan didn't utterly despise me (he  _did_  put up with me being annoying all the time), and at times I felt confident enough to brag that I was his best friend. But that made it a lot harder. If I were to confess to Shin-chan, wouldn't he feel betrayed? I knew he didn't have many friends; even the guys from our team saw him with little more than contempt and admiration for his skills. If he found out I wanted more than friendship from him, he'd definitely feel I'd approached him with ulterior moves from the beginning and it would ruin our relationship. I didn't want that at all. I would have to make do with just being friends if that meant being allowed to stand by his side in the court.

This is where the girl from the female basketball club comes into the picture. I figured I could bury my one-sided feelings for Shin-chan if I found another girl to have fun with. Except that after asking her out, I realized I wasn't really interested in her whatsoever. I spent the entirety of our first and only date thinking about Shin-chan. In most of my previous relationships, I had always managed to enjoy spending time with whoever my girlfriend was, even if I hadn't particularly liked some of them. Many of those girls had been interesting and fun to be around. I'm not sure if this girl just wasn't interesting enough, but the truth is I just couldn't bring myself to even pretend I was invested in dating her.

Of course, that didn't give her the right to talk trash about Shin-chan or go as far as saying he was bullying me into pretending to be his friend. What the hell did she think she knew about Shin-chan or our friendship? It pissed me off. She even had the gall to think she could threaten me with forcing me to choose between her and Shin-chan! That self-complacent bitch.

"I'm saying I will always choose the best basketball player I've met and my most precious friend over some pathetic hag that just babbles stupid trash without a clue about anything. In fact, I will  _always_ choose Shin-chan over anyone else, so fuck off!"

As soon as the words left my mouth I realized I was way past the point of no return. I didn't just "like" Shin-chan. I was head-over-heels in love with him. No matter how many other girls I dated, I wouldn't be able to get him out of my mind. In fact, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to fall in love with any other girl (or guy), let alone enjoy any sort of informal fling with a cute girl and try to make her my priority for a few weeks, because I just loved Shin-chan that much.

I was just glad Shin-chan didn't hear me back then. If he had, he'd figure out my true feelings right away, and it could've been disastrous.

* * *

I was telling the truth when I said I was going to devote myself to Shin-chan. After how bad the last one had turned out –partly because she was a bitch, but mostly because I was not interested in the relationship at all-, I'd determined I couldn't just keep dating random girls. It would be a disservice to them to date them half-heartedly, and I had fallen so hard for Shin-chan I couldn't bring myself to even try to act like a good boyfriend –which had always been my policy, even when dating girls I didn't feel particularly interested in.- Besides, all the girls in our school hated me now and were convinced I had AIDS or something like that. Whatever.

But one day I came home to find my old childhood friend sitting in the living room and chatting it off with my little sister.

"Oh, Kazu-chan, long time no see." She said casually, after not seeing each other for like five years

She dragged me away to talk in private and said she'd happened to watch our games in the preliminaries for the Winter Cup.

"Hey, Kazu-chan, introduce me to that guy with the three-pointers. He's reaaaally cute."

Something cracked inside me when I imagined her flirting with Shin-chan. What if she was his type? What kind of girls did Shin-chan like, anyway? I'd never seen him with a girlfriend and we'd never discussed the subject either. He had a really bad reputation at school, so girls rarely ever approached him. I had never even considered the notion that Shin-chan might eventually get himself a girlfriend. I felt suddenly terrified. She was cute and straight-forward, what if Shin-chan liked that? What if they started dating and Shin-chan didn't want to spend any more time with me? I felt horribly sick.

_No, you can't. You can't have him. He's mine!_

"Gee, Kazu-chan, you don't have to get so worked up about it. I didn't know you swung that way. If it's so important to you I'll let it go, it was just a passing thought anyway."

Oh crap, I'd been thinking out loud.

"I'll leave it alone, but in exchange, you'll date me for a week. The Winter Cup's really close so I know you don't have much time, but you did promise you'd marry me when we were kids. So I'll leave your precious Ace-sama to you, but you have to at least give me a week of fantasy. I've heard you're good at that."

Well, if being a good boyfriend for a week would clear out any competition for Shin-chan (at least in the foreseeable future) I figured it'd be ok. In hindsight, it was a terrible thing to do. What if my friend was Shin-chan's better half? What if she could make him happier than I could? But I was so scared of losing him and so consumed by jealousy that I pushed those those thoughts aside. Shin-chan didn't have to know about it either. I'd just promised I'd devote myself to him a few days ago, and although he'd never admit it it, I knew he'd been happy when I said it.

Leave it to my obnoxious little sister to blurt everything out in front of Shin-chan two days before the week was over. I knew he was hurt and I tried to explain everything, but he didn't let me. He just left and wouldn't reply to my mails or texts until the Winter Cup started.

I could feel the spite in his voice when he asked about her before the match. For a moment, I wondered if he was jealous. No way, right? But he did seem kind of relieved when I told him the truth, so maybe he was?

* * *

True to my word, I didn't date any other girl after that. I received many confessions over the next few months –apparently, we'd been so cool in the Winter Cup, nobody cared if I had AIDS anymore-, but I turned them all down. Sometimes girls would confess to me when I was with Shin-chan, and I couldn't tell if he was relieved or sad when I kept saying "sorry, I already have someone I love." Maybe he was worried that I was still hanging on to that girl from the bookstore. Or maybe he was just annoyed that our lunchtimes were often interrupted by girls confessing to me. Or maybe he didn't care either way, and I was just fooling myself into believing he did.

Miyaji-senpai called me apart after training one day. The third years didn't come to the gym often because they were focused on their entrance exams, and only occasionally showed up to make sure we kept up with training, so I thought he'd want to make a comment about my performance. I didn't expect him to suddenly ask "You have it bad for Ace-sama, don't you?"

I knew my face had just turned scarlet red. Oh god, he knew. If he knew, what were the chances of Shin-chan knowing too? Oh god, this was so bad.

"Cool down, that guy is as oblivious as can be. Look, I'm growing bored of you giving him the lost puppy eyes all the time; you can't even concentrate properly on practice anymore."

Shit, was I really being so obvious?

"So I'll give you a hand. I'll ask him if he's on the same page and you can just stand there and 'accidentally' overhear the conversation and do whatever you ought, if you catch my drive."

There were so many things that sounded wrong about Miyaji-senpai's plan I didn't know where to start. Forget about Shin-chan liking me back, what were the chances he'd be willing to disclose any of his private feelings to anyone, even if there were any?

"Don't give me that look, shorty. You just trust your senpai on this."

I honestly don't know how or why I agreed to that completely ridiculous plan, I was too busy worrying about how much the other team members knew –how much  _Shin-chan_  knew- about the apparently extremely obvious love-sick glances I kept shooting in his general direction.

* * *

I shouldn't have let Miyaji-senpai bully Shin-chan like that. I knew I had to intervene. I had not agreed to see Shin-chan humiliated in front of the entire team. But I couldn't move. Was it possible that it was true? I mean, just because he had a picture of me in his locker didn't necessarily mean he liked me, right? I had one of him too so… oh, okay, maybe not the best example. But Shin-chan wasn't denying anything either. Could it possibly…? No, no way, right? The holy, magnificent, beautiful, adorable Shin-chan could never 'love' a loud, dumb and obnoxious guy like me.

"SO WHAT IF I DO?!"

Oh.

I'd had a feeling for a while. When it comes to a completely antisocial guy like Shin-chan, it makes one wonder why he'd let a guy like me stay so close to him –especially when he continuously complained that I was too loud, too clingy, too annoying, and that he hated me for calling him 'stupid nicknames' (even though it was just one and it wasn't stupid, just really cute and befitting his tsundere-ness)-. When you think about it, he didn't seem to be on good terms with his Teiko teammates either, I was basically the only member of his social circle. Sometimes I'd also had the impression that he got mad whenever I talked about my girlfriends. Some other times I felt as if the way he looked at me was different to how he looked at everyone else. More than once I had the impression that there was a hint of sadness in his face when I told him I'd found a new girlfriend. But after I realized just how much I liked him, I convinced myself it had all been wishful thinking, just my brain making up stuff; because there was no way a guy like Shin-chan could have feelings for me.

But he did.

I don't recall exactly how I reacted. My heart was pounding so hard I feared it would explode and my vision was blurred; all I could see was him. The next thing I knew, he was smiling at me and whispering he loved me, and kissing me and everything was perfect.

* * *

There was just one question left unanswered, and as we sat next to each other, our hands laced together, my head on his shoulder and his face nuzzling my hair, I knew I had to address it soon. I was reluctant to ruin the mood, but I knew I had to make things clear from the start; otherwise it could cause misunderstandings, and I didn't want that.

"Shin-chan?" I started, tracing invisible lines on the palm of his hand. "I just want you to know I'm serious about you… about us…"

He pulled back just so he could meet my eyes and  I could almost hear the question, even when he didn't say a word.

_Why are you bringing this up now?_

I wrapped his hands in mine and caressed the flawless skin with my thumbs.

"I don't want any misunderstandings. I don't want you to believe for a second that my feelings are not honest, and it's important that I say these things to you now, after all we've been through. I told you I would devote myself to you; I meant it back then and I mean it now."

There were things left unspoken. That Shin-chan had seen me at my worst and I was afraid he'd judge me for that. He'd watch me date girls that I didn't really like, just for fun. He watched me play with the feelings of girls who had truly liked me. He'd watched me break up a dozen times, and most of them I wasn't even sad. I'd earned myself a 'womanizer' reputation for a reason. I wanted to make sure he knew it was different.  _He_  was different, and I wish I had realized it sooner. He was not like those girls. He was special, the most special. Even more than my middle-school girlfriend, or the girl from the bookstore that broke my heart. I'd once thought she could be  _the one_. With Shin-chan I had no doubts, I just knew it. It may sound stupid and idealistic for a sixteen-year-old who'd had 11 girlfriends over the course of one year, but I knew it then, and I still know it now. Shin-chan was everything, and I wanted him to know even if I couldn't find the right words to convey those feelings.

He brought my hands to his lips and kissed my fingertips lightly, like I did back when we lost to Rakuzan and he let me do his taping. And that was all I needed. We didn't need words that I wasn't able to articulate. He knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if the ending felt sudden and a little dry, but I wanted it to end like this. One of the things I think is very important to their relationship is how deeply they understand each other, without the needed of spoken words, and I thought it would be nice to end it with that sort of feeling.
> 
> At first I wasn't intending to write this part, but then I thought it would be interesting to show Takao's side of the story, if anything to show that he also fell in love little by little, almost naturally. I also wanted to show a little more of the different girls. Even though I made it as though his relationship with Midorima was the reason for most of the break-ups, I feel like it was mostly a very devoted friendship. I don't know if I mentioned it in previous chapters, but I think Takao understands how hard it is for Midorima to open up and trust anyone, and that he treasures the trust he receives, and because he realizes that, he somehow prioritizes that over his other relationships. Of course, in the end it's that devotion that paves the way for his falling in love.


End file.
